Deadpool likes to play with superhero rules and timelines, so here’s a rundown of where his next movie fits in.

Deadpool breaks all the rules; when the character and the franchise debuted to staggering box numbers office in 2016, fans were delighted to be given a superhero who didn’t take himself or his enemies seriously, and the success of the first two films helped to rejuvenate an otherwise tepid X-Men series for 20th Century Fox. A lot has changed since the Merc with a mouth was last seen on the big screen, however. The studio was acquired by Disney, and the film Deadpool & Wolverine went from being an antidote to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to being owned by the same company as the MCU.

Deadpool 3, aka Deadpool & Wolverine, is scheduled for release on July 24, 2024. As one can ascertain from the title and marketing campaign, the appeal of the film will come from seeing Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) team up with Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and tackle the popular trend of multiverse storytelling. It’s bound to be a lot of fun, but its exact placement within the X-Men and Marvel universe, respectively, is somewhat unclear.
Is it both? Is it neither? Let’s discuss.

Deadpool 3 will continue the X-Men timeline

The X-Men timeline is an absolute mess. The continuity problems within the Fox franchise has become a running joke at this point, with no attention paid to character ages or the repetition of famous story arcs (Dark Phoenix, anybody?). Deadpool & Wolverine will technically be set within the X-Men timeline, but not in a way that easily slots into the films we’ve already seen. Instead, the threequel will introduce a Wolverine from a slightly different timeline in which something terrible happened (well, more terrible than usual).

The trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine establishes that this particular Wolverine variant “went to sh*t” after he “let his entire world,” though it’s careful not to reveal what he did. This was done for a couple different reasons. Firstly, it allows Hugh Jackman to stretch his acting muscles and bring something new to the character after two and a half decades of playing him. Secondly, and most importantly to fans, it preserves the fate of Wolverine in Logan. The 2017 film is considered the high water mark of the X-Men franchise, and boasts one of Jackman’s finest performances, so it was paramount that Deadpool & Wolverine not undo the impact it had.

Deadpool & Wolverine will also tie in Deadpool the most with the X-Men timeline of any of his previous films. The mutant team were mainly used as gags or surprise cameos in the first two installments, so it’ll be fun to see them become more intermingled in this new story.

Deadpool 3 will ALSO be set in the MCU

This is where things are going to get tricky. Deadpool & Wolverine is going to attempt to tell a cohesive and satisfying story about the Merc with a mouth while taking place within the X-Men AND MCU timelines. The film is being utilized as a way to bridge the gap between the franchises, and enable characters and actors from the X-Men films to bleed over into the MCU for crossovers in the future.

Marvel President Kevin Feige talked about the essential role that Deadpool & Wolverine will play in the future of the MCU during a recent interview with Collider. He not only boasted about the film’s quality, but confirmed that it will be taking place in the same timeline and universe as the MCU’s core stories:

It’s exciting for it to have begun. Again, a very different type of character in the MCU, and Ryan is a force of nature, which is just awesome to see him bring that character to life.

Deadpool & Wolverine will be dropped into the MCU at an interesting time (no pun intended). The franchise has spent the last few years navigating the multiverse, so the upcoming film could either simplify or vastly complicate the order of events as we know it. Based on the track record of both Deadpool and the MCU we get the impression it’ll be fun either way.